Tag Archives: frederic

Harry Redknapp has launched a raid for West Ham midfielder Mohamed Diame in a bid to secure QPR's Barclays Premier League lives.

The Senegal international has a 3.5million trigger clause written into his contract and Redknapp hopes he can tempt Diame across London.

The midfield powerhouse is just the kind of player the R's boss needs with his side languishing in the relegation zone.

Wanted man: Redknapp has made a bid for West Ham's Diame

The west London club have won just once in the league this term, despite a huge influx of new players in the summer.

And without a fresh injection of new blood in the January transfer window, they could be heading back into the Football league after two seasons in the top flight.

Diame has been an instant in east London after moving south from Wigan on a free last summer. But his future could now lay elsewhere after Redknapp laid out his desire to capture the Hammers star man.

His agent, Willie McKay, has laid out exactly why some player shave these low release triggers written into their contracts.

'The only reason some clubs have the players they have is because of a clause being inserted.' said McKay.

'They may make an offer that is less wages than another club has offered but because they allow a trigger clause then the player will sign with them.

'Diame was a free transfer and believed he could command a better salary than he was offered so to compensate for that the clause was put in so he could leave in six months time for 3.5million. That way the club can sell him at a quick profit or renegotiate.

Crocked: Diame is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury

'West Ham bought out Frederic Kanoute’s
clause and sold him for a profit; Wigan bought out Pascal Chimbonda’s at
2million and sold him to Tottenham for 4.5m.

'The thing is everyone is happy with the clauses at the outset otherwise a deal would not be signed. It’s only when things go wrong that people start saying they aren’t happy or it's the agents' fault.'

Diame is currently recovering from a hamstring tear – which he suffered in the defeat to Liverpool – but is expected to be fit enough to return in early January.

Under the cosh: Redknapp is facing a battle to save QPR's Premier League skins

French cup match suspended after linesman hit on head by object thrown from the crowd

|

UPDATED:

22:52 GMT, 28 November 2012

Lille reached the semi-finals of the French League Cup with a 3-0 win over Bastia on Wednesday but the match had to be suspended for 15 minutes in the first half after an assistant referee was hit by a missile thrown from the crowd.

The players were taken off the pitch with Lille leading 1-0 six minutes before the break as the official received attention. He was unhurt and continued in his role. The object that hit the official was said to be a stone.

Hurt: The assistant referee (second right) leaves the pitch after being hit by an object thrown by supporters

Soldiering on: The official needed attention but continued at the Armand Cesari Stadium in Corsica

Gianni Bruno opened the scoring for Lille in the 10th minute, firing home after defender Maka Mary had failed to clear, and the visitors doubled their lead thanks to another mistake on 62 minutes.

Piquionne, who spent most of last season on loan at Doncaster, is seemingly surplus to requirements while there are doubts over Maynard and Baldock following their goal-shy returns after arriving at Upton Park last term.

Allardyce is in the market for a number of new signings with co-chairman David Gold revealing they want to sign at least four.

Former Wigan midfielder Mohamed Diame is one of those targets and is set to complete his free transfer to the east London side soon.

George McCartney could also seal a permanent return to the club after his successful loan spell last season while moves for West Brom's Jonas Olsson and Juventus winger Eljero Elia are also mooted.

Arsenal are being forced to firm up their interest in Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila as Inter Milan and Bayern Munich consider making an approach.

Arsene Wenger has been hot on the trail of the highly-rated 21-year-old for some time but is loathed to splashing out in excess of 20million on a player who is yet to prove himself consistently at the highest level.

However with Champions League finalist Bayern now entering the fray, the Frenchman's hand will be forced.

In demand: Rennes' midfielder, Yann M'Vila is attracting interest all over Europe

M'Vila, who has three years remaining on his deal at Europa League chasers Rennes, has been capped 18 times at international level and his club boss Frederic Antonetti has come to accept the dynamic midfielder will leave this summer.

M'Vila's stock has rapidly been on the rise for the last two seasons and after been selected as the man to model France's Euro 2012 kit, former France international Marcel Desailly claimed he had the potential to be better than Patrick Vieira.

'I would just say that if I was the chairman of a Premier League club I would just close my eyes and put the figure on the cheque to get him,' Desailly said earlier this month. 'Because he is really the future. The talent is there. It is obvious.

'Arsenal is probably a stable club where he can have a bit of time or [Manchester] United where he has time to assimilate the changing of clubs and start slowly to perform,' added Desailly.

'He needs to come to the Barclays Premier League. We want him in this competition because it is the best, first of all, and he can really develop his skills. It is for players who like to play with tempo.

'You can see by the way he gets the ball, control and passes straight away. Long ball, short ball. He has that sort of rhythm that the Barclays Premier League is demanding.'

Southampton 2 Doncaster 0: Sharp fires Saints to fourth straight win to put former club in the mire

|

UPDATED:

17:28 GMT, 24 March 2012

Former Doncaster striker Billy Sharp sent Southampton one step closer to the Barclays Premier League and at the same time nudged his old employers further towards the npower Championship trapdoor.

Sharp joined the Saints in the January transfer window for a fee in the region of 2million and scored two second-half goals to earn victory as the Saints continue to march towards promotion.

It will have been a bittersweet afternoon for Sharp as, despite sending his new side nine points clear of third-placed West Ham, the defeat leaves Rovers, for who he scored 41 goals in 86 appearances, staring relegation in the face, five points adrift of safety.

It was a dominant performance from
the hosts and Sharp broke the deadlock shortly before the hour with a
header and then put the game to bed by firing home from inside the area
with 15 minutes to go.

Rovers were left to reflect on a
third successive defeat, which may have been different had Frederic
Piquionne headed home early on.

Seven wins out of nine had seen the
Saints become firm favourites for the title before kick-off and Sharp
was given the nod upfront against his old club.

For Rovers, back-to-back home defeats
to Derby and Millwall had damaged their chances of survival but they
will have been buoyed by a recent point at West Ham.

Rovers' start will have provided
further optimism for boss Dean Saunders, but after complaining of missed
chances in recent weeks, he was again left with his head in his hands
when Piquionne headed over from Simon Gillett's cross in the eighth
minute as Rovers threatened to cause a shock.

The feeling was that the miss could
prove costly as Southampton settled in from there and Adam Lallana could
have opened the scoring after a neat exchange with Sharp, but his
effort was blocked.

The traffic was becoming one way and
after Rickie Lambert had a shout for a penalty turned down, Sharp went
close to registering against his old side, though his header went wide
of the post.

Party time: Southampton celebrate Sharp's opener

The opener eventually came 13 minutes
after the restart when Sharp reacted quickest to get on the end of Dan
Fox's inviting corner to head home his second goal in a Southampton
shirt.

That tally was soon taken to three
with 15 minutes remaining when he capitalised on some poor defending
from Habib Beye before firing past Carl Ikeme.

Richard Chaplow shot wide as the
Saints looked to put the icing on the cake, but a fourth win on the
bounce means it appears as though it is just a matter of time until
promotion is secured.